Striker clocks driven by electric motors are already known in which the kind and number of the emitted strikes or sounds is predeterminable by mechanical scanning of mechanical or electrical means depending upon the position of an indicator shaft of the clockwork. Via a further clockwork shaft, generally moving more rapidly, the emission of the sequence of strikes preselected by the first shaft is triggered when called for. This involves either, in the case of a mechanical striker, the unblocking of the power train of the driving spring assembly and its reblocking after the emission of the acoustic signal or--in the case of an electric-motor drive--the cut-in of a miniature electric motor at the beginning of the emission of the acoustic time signal and its cutout at the end thereof.
These known arrangements, however, are relatively complex and cumbersome in their mechanical structure. They are expensive to manufacture and, furthermore, require relatively much space for their accommodation in the clock housing. They are, moreover, often prone to malfunction and sensitive to external influences such as thrusts and impacts, but also to contamination by dust, thickened oil etc.
Besides, the signal sequence to be emitted for indicating the time is fixedly preset in many cases so that a variation or modification is possible only with difficulty, e.g. by manual intervention, and often only in permanent fashion.